Massage-roller.



PATENTED JUNE 23, 19:03.

T. LBNNOX. MASSAGE; ROLLER.

APPLIUATION FILED, 0012s. 1902.

N0 MODEL,

UNITED STATES Patented June 23, 190g;

'IALBOT LENNOX, OF AMES, IOWA.

l MAS SAGE-RO LLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of- Letters Patent No. 731,693, dated J' une23, 1903. Applicationiiled October 6, 1902. Serial No. 126.260. (Nomodel.)

T all whom, it may concern..-

Be it known that I, TALBOTLENNOX, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ames,

1 in thecounty of Story and State of Iowa, have invented a certain newand useful Massage- Roller, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to provide a massage-roller of simple,durable, and inexpensive construction.

`A further object is'to provide'a roller of .e this class-so arrangedthat when the roller is pushed in one direction over a yielding sureface the said surface will be drawn into `ridges between theroller-sections, and when the roller is pushed in an opposite directionthe same surface will be stretched tightly betweenthe roller-sections,to the end that by f `the alternate pinching or contracting and r rystance, as a persons skin-the old and dead stretching of a yieldingsurface-such, for ina persons finger the sections may be made to engagethe top and sides thereof at the same tlme.

A further object is to provide a roller which e may be made of'wooden orother unyielding sections and yet the roller proper will be dexible andthe independent roller-sections capa- 1 ble of movement in any directionrelative to each other to a limited degree.

My invention consists in certain details in lthe construction,arrangement, andcombination of the various parts of the device wherep lby the objects contemplated are attained, as

hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, andillustrated in the accomrpauying drawings,'in which- Figure 1 shows aplan view of the complete device with part of the rollers in sections.Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of same. Fig.'

3 shows a front view of the roller bearing 4against the convex surfaceto illustrate the manner in which the roller adapts itself to unevensurfaces; and Fig. 4 shows a rear View of the roller applied to acomparatively fiat yielding surface, illustrating the manner in whichridges are formed in said surface by a movement of the roller in onedirection over the surface.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used thereference-numeral 10 to indicate the handle of the device, and 11 a iiatmetal shank connected with the handle for,V

supporting the roller-sections.

The reference-numeral 12 indicates a coil of spring-wire of a lengthcorresponding to the length of the handle, the coils thereof being closetogether to form an axle for the roller. At each end of the coil 12 Ihave formed in the wire a large ring 13, and at the end of the ring thewire is extended straight at 14, and these straight portions 14 areconnected with the shank 11. The said ends 14 are inclined toward eachother, thus causing the coil 12 to assume a segmental shape bowedoutwardly from the shank 11, as correspondingly illustrated in Fig. 1.

Mounted upon the coil 12 is a series of roller- 4sections (indicated bythe numeral 15) and each having a central opening large enough to admitthe coil 12 and to turn loosely upon said coil. Each of said rollersections is diskshaped and thickest at its center, the sides graduallytapering toward the circumference, which is slightly rounded, as clearlyshown in Figs. 1 and 3.

In practical use it is obvious that the rings 13 at the ends of the coill2 will serve to hold the roller-sections together, so that they canspread only against the resiliency of the spring-coil 12. Assuming,further, that it is desired to operate the roller over a comparativelyflat surface and assuming that the operator presses downwardly upon thehandle and moves the roller forwardly, then the forward under portionsof all of the rollers will engage the flat surface, and as the distancebetween the forward under surfaces of two rollers is greater than thedistance between the rear under surfaces of the same rollers it isobvious that the surface upon which the roller is being operated will be drawn or pinched into ridges between the rollers, because the rollersare farthest apart at their ICO front edges. Then, assuming that theroller is moved in an opposite direction, the result will be that thesurface between each pair of rollers will be stretched, because whenmoving Vin said direction the parts of the rollers that iirst engage thesurface are closer together than the parts of the rollers which lastengage the surface. AHence a repeated movement of the roller backwardlyand forwardly over a persons slain will result in the alternate pinchingand stretching of the skin, thereby breaking down the old and decayedtissues and bringing the fresh blood to the surface, so that new tissuesmay be formed to take the place of those broken down and carried away bythe blood. Furthermore, assuming that it is desired to massage an unevenand irregular surface-such, for instance, as the back of a personshand-it is obvious that by pressing down upon the handle the coil-springl2 will be shaped to conform effectively to the surface against whichthe rollers are engaged. Hence the various roller-sections will engagethe sides as well as the top of the fingers or uneven surfaces of thehand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States therefor, is-

1. An improved massage-roller, comprising a handle, a roller-axle madeof a contractile coil-spring, means for connecting the ends of the axlewith the handle, and a roller rotatably mounted upon the axle.

2. An improved massage-roller, comprising a handle, an axle made of asingle contractile coil-sprin g, having its end portions connected withthe handle and its central portion bowed outwardly from the handle, anda roller rotag tably mounted upon' the axle.

vin combination a handle, a contractile coilspring having extensions atits ends connected with the handle and having its central portionoutwardly from the handle, and a roller composed of a number ofindependent diskshaped sections, each rotatably mounted on thecoil-spring.

4:. Animproved massage-roller, comprising iin combination a handle, acontractile coilspring having a ring formed at each end larger indiameter than the coils of the spring and 'having extensions at its endsinclined toward each other and connected with the handle, the centralportion of the coil-spring being bowed outwardly from the handle, and aroller composed of a series of independent diskshaped sections eachrotatably mounted upon the coil-spring between the rings at the endsthereof.

lconnecting the end portions of the axle with the handle, and a rollercomposed of a series of independent disk-shaped sections rotatablymounted on the axle, the central portion of said axle bowed outwardlyfrom the handle capable of bending in any direction and normally undertension tending to draw its ends together, for the purposes stated.

TALBOT LENNOX.

Witnesses:

J. E. DAvIs, D. F. DAVIS.

